Help Me, Show Me!
OPENING PRAYER:
Father, as I bow before you, I sense your nourishing, encouraging, healing love. Hallelujah, I am loved and forgiven.
A psalm of David.
1 Lord, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.
2 Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you.
3 The enemy pursues me,
he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in the darkness
like those long dead.
4 So my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within me is dismayed.
5 I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.
6 I spread out my hands to you;
I thirst for you like a parched land.
7 Answer me quickly, Lord;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, Lord,
for I hide myself in you.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.
11 For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life;
in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;
destroy all my foes,
for I am your servant. Psalm 143
REFLECT:
We can guess what will happen tomorrow or next month, but we really don’t know the future at all. What difference does it make to be loved by someone who actually holds the future in his hand?
David is facing a crisis with an enemy that seeks to destroy him (v 3). So, he cries out to God. He recognizes that God is the judge, and everybody is worthy of judgment (v 2). He also recognizes that God has done great things for his people, and so he spreads out his hands in prayer. Even though every one of us is a sinner, God’s good works can give us confidence to cry out in a moment of crisis Psalm 143:1-6
Then, in the second half of the psalm, David looks beyond the immediate crisis. There will be other challenges, more difficulties, different struggles. So, he asks God, not only for deliverance, but also for teaching and guidance (vs 8,10). As we look forward in life, we do not know what the future will bring, but we do know who holds the future, so we can, whatever we’re facing right now, ask him with confidence to guide us through life (vs 7–12). God can help us now and show us how to live moving forward.
APPLY:
Knowing that God is able to direct our paths as we move forward through life, pray for God to do that in respect of the potential challenges you can anticipate, and those you can’t.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Amazing God, in Christ I no longer fear condemnation or separation. In the face of this I cannot contain my praise.
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